Today's manufacturing facilities are highly controlled and monitored. Typically, the raw material input is inventoried and tracked throughout the process. Certain steps of the manufacturing and assembly process may be electronically monitored so that variations exceeding a predetermined threshold can be flagged and corrected immediately. A growing concern in many industries today is the accurate measurement and recording of parameters that may be variable during the manufacturing process.
Parameters that may be monitored and recorded during the manufacturing process may relate to product safety, quality control, liability, and/or efficiency. For example, in the food services industry where the end result of the manufacturing and assembly process is a food product, various parameters relating to the food product may be monitored as the food product is prepared for human consumption. For example, one such parameter that may be carefully monitored for health and safety reasons is the temperature of the food product during cooking and post-cooking handling. The temperature of food products is critical to avoid serving food items that include bacteria associated with food borne illnesses. Additionally, the temperature of food products may be important in gourmet cooking where customers may specify a desired level of doneness.
Typically, kitchen staff is periodically required to measure the temperature of food products or their storage or holding areas to ensure product safety, extend product life, minimize spoilage, and reduce liability. For example, a measurement device such as a thermometer or thermistor- or thermocouple-based device may be inserted into a food item to measure the temperature of a food product. A display on the device then provides a reading of the measured parameter for notation by the kitchen staff. The collected results may be manually compared to a standardized guideline and then entered into a log for future audit or equipment adjustment.
The performance of these tasks is labor intensive and labor dependent. Staff must be adequately trained to use temperature and other parameter measuring equipment in a correct and consistent manner. Typically, the staff must configure and reconfigure the parameter measuring equipment based on the parameter being monitored and/or the type of food product being measured. For example, a single thermometer used for detecting the temperature of a variety of different meats must be reconfigured between readings based on the type of meat being measured. Additionally, staff must be relied upon for accurately remembering or looking up predetermined thresholds that must be met with respect to each type of food product. Staff must also be relied upon for accurately recording the resulting measurements.
This labor dependent process often results in the inaccurate monitoring of the food products. Often, overworked and under-motivated employees fail to accurately obtain and/or record the temperature readings and may even fail to take the temperature readings altogether. As a result, food may not meet guidelines established the U.S.D.A. or another regulating authority. Similar problems exist in processing plants, grocery stores, industrial applications, and other industries dependent on its staff for the monitoring of critical parameters.